Darvish Fans Career-Top 15 In No-Hit Try vs Astros

HOUSTON (AP) — Yu Darvish was nearly perfect against the Astros once again, taking a no-hit bid into the eighth inning and striking out a career-high 15 to lead the Texas Rangers over Houston 2-1 Monday for their eighth straight win.

Darvish dominated the Astros until Carlos Corporan homered with one out in the eighth inning for Houston’s only hit.

Until the homer, Houston’s lone runner came when rookie Jonathan Villar drew a two-out walk in the sixth. A pitch before the walk, Texas catcher A.J. Pierzynski was ejected for arguing with plate umpire Ron Kulpa on a breaking ball he called low.`

In early April, Darvish (12-5) was one out away from a perfect game at Minute Maid Park before Marwin Gonzalez singled between his legs.

This time, Darvish was equally sharp. He left after eight innings, having increased his major league-leading strikeout total to 207.